Mozilla To Launch 'Thunderbird Pro' Paid Services (techspot.com) 36
Mozilla plans to introduce a suite of paid professional services for its open-source Thunderbird email client, transforming the application into a comprehensive communication platform. Dubbed "Thunderbird Pro," the package aims to compete with established ecosystems like Gmail and Office 365 while maintaining Mozilla's commitment to open-source software.
The Pro tier will include four core services: Thunderbird Appointment for streamlined scheduling, Thunderbird Send for file sharing (reviving the discontinued Firefox Send), Thunderbird Assist offering AI capabilities powered by Flower AI, and Thundermail, a revamped email client built on Stalwart's open-source stack. Initially, Thunderbird Pro will be available free to "consistent community contributors," with paid access for other users.
Mozilla Managing Director Ryan Sipes indicated the company may consider limited free tiers once the service establishes a sustainable user base. This initiative follows Mozilla's 2023 announcement about "remaking" Thunderbird's architecture to modernize its aging codebase, addressing user losses to more feature-rich competitors.
The Pro tier will include four core services: Thunderbird Appointment for streamlined scheduling, Thunderbird Send for file sharing (reviving the discontinued Firefox Send), Thunderbird Assist offering AI capabilities powered by Flower AI, and Thundermail, a revamped email client built on Stalwart's open-source stack. Initially, Thunderbird Pro will be available free to "consistent community contributors," with paid access for other users.
Mozilla Managing Director Ryan Sipes indicated the company may consider limited free tiers once the service establishes a sustainable user base. This initiative follows Mozilla's 2023 announcement about "remaking" Thunderbird's architecture to modernize its aging codebase, addressing user losses to more feature-rich competitors.
Oh, so that (Score:1)
No mail hosting services? (Score:5, Insightful)
If they want to offer a solution that mimics GMail and O365 they're going to need to host the actual email services. People don't use GMail and O365 for the client, they use it because of the basic back end email service.
Simply having a "Pro" tier of the client for OSS means some enterprising folks will replicate the tier functionality with free addons.
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This.
How much server space do I get for the money? None? Pffft. I am not sure what it will take to get folks like me who are too cheap to donate to change their minds.
Re:No mail hosting services? (Score:5, Informative)
If they want to offer a solution that mimics GMail and O365 they're going to need to host the actual email services. ...
Yes. That's the "Thundermail" part of the Pro Package though the Summary mangles it/confuses it.
The original announcement (that's linked from TFA ) is more clear https://thunderbird.topicbox.c... [topicbox.com]
Thunderbird Server as a Way Forward (2015 by me) (Score:2)
https://pdfernhout.net/thunder... [pdfernhout.net]
"To deal with Thunderbird's technical debt (which Andrew Sutherland described on the Mozilla Governance thread that Mitchell Baker started), I propose Mozilla fund a "skunkworks" team of about seven people for a year to create a new server version of Thunderbird (called "Thunderbird Server", or "ThunderbirdS" for short) that runs initially as a locally-installed Node.js app providing a single-page JavaScript/TypeScript/Mithril/D3 webapp for email handling and other peer-to-p
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The announcement talks about creating the "next generation email service". That sounds like they intend to enshittify it almost immediately. What else could they be talking about?
Re:No mail hosting services? (Score:4, Interesting)
They won't be doing this, but they *could* make an email service which doesn't use SMTP, except for "legacy" mail. They could make it a bit like social media where you have to 'connect' before you can send someone an email, and if that person disconnects you, you can't send them any more mail. They could also build in things like "take me out of this email chain", where you can just remove yourself from the reply-all hell that so many of us end up in.
What they (sadly) also probably won't be doing is making any of this work properly. I use Thunderbird because Apple Mail is awful, but it's by no means any good. Bugs on their bugs, and inconsistencies and weirdness all over the place. No way I'm paying for anything unless they fix a load of that in it.
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Why would you call such a thing e-mail?
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RTFA never dies. The summary isn't great about it, but from the article:
"Mozilla Managing Director Ryan Sipes revealed that the new bundle of services is called "Thunderbird Pro," which includes several features including a new email service called Thundermail (think Gmail)."
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It's very VERY unclear what that offering is. Will they host my domain? Are they just a relay? This needs to be expanded in order to know what they are REALLY offering and how secure the services might be.
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Because it isn't an product announcement, but some talk about a project in development, happening on an internal message board.
Re: No mail hosting services? (Score:3)
I certainly use Gmail for the client. Having access from any device, and fast search capabilities, is very helpful. A local Thunderbird client couldn't do that, unfortunately.
That said, there are many problems in Gmail, especially privacy wise. I expect there would be some with any free to use cloud email service. They have to be paid for somehow.
I used to roll my own mail server in my 20s, but that got a little bit old to maintain.
Smartphones weren't around then, also, so there was no need for a separate m
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You can use thunderbird as a gmail client.
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I know, I even have my gmail connected to Thunderbird, but I don't use it much. My Thunderbird instance lives on one device, my desktop PC. I would need additional instances of it on other devices, with manually replicated configurations, to be able to use email remotely in practice. The incessant 2FA e-mail notifications alone make it difficult to be away from one's e-mail for too long. Some TB features, particularly search, are unfortunately slower in local TB than remote gmail. There are also issues with
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"feature rich" (Score:5, Insightful)
Thunderbird has been the go-to mail client of choice for over 20 years.
Thinking that they had to compete with the bloated and slow Outlook was a mistake.
I want a slim email client, and Thunderbird is moving faster and faster away from that. Outlook may be the competition, but making all those mistakes is not the solution.
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They need to compete with Outlook because people pay for Outlook. No one pays for Thunderbird.
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They should be targeting small business that pay for Google Workspace, Zoho, etc
Stop right there! (Score:3)
"comprehensive communication platform"
No one wants another Microsoft 365. In fact, no one wants the first M365 either. It's too bit, too clunky and trying to much than it's healthy for it to do.
Do you want to do something that people would buy instead of M365? Create an email client that is just an email client. A product that does a single job and does it well.
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Create an email client that is just an email client. A product that does a single job and does it well.
Like Thunderbird? It is a pretty good email client. It's OSS, cross platform, I use it with several email providers and it pretty much does what I expect from an email client. Also, K9 on Android FTW.
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Bring back Eudora? I quit using it when MacOS 10.2 shipped.
I don't have enough email to get exercised about the client. Everything over 90 days old gets deleted except for bills and receipts which stick around for 180 days. Spam is on insta-death.
Why (Score:2)
And who asked for this
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Nobody asked for Thunderbird's last three UI revamps, so why change how things are decided?
Something, finally (Score:2)
That said, I'm really glad they're actually building something that can generate recurring revenue, that isn't a fly-by-night shitcoin or LLM play, or yet another data-generating useless service glued on to Firefox.
On the other hand, I recall when Netscape died. It was after it Microsoft ensured charging fo
Better Bird? (Score:2)
Anybody using better bird?
I'm debating switching.
I'm sure it's safe to assume if we don't pay for the pro features they will be advertised to us all the time.
Will history repeat? (Score:3)
I use Firefox and Thunderbird. I believe in the value and mission of Mozilla and its programs.
I think nearly everyone on Slashdot knows why this is important.
I would hate to see it fail.
About a year and a half ago, Mozilla offered a VPN. I thought that would be a nice thing to get - for three reasons:
One - It seemed like a good way to support Mozilla and give them some money - a fair bit of revenue if enough people used it.
Two - I had some faith that a Mozilla product would be safe, from a trustworthy company. The product never gave me reason to doubt that, I still think that is true.
Three - I assumed that a company with Mozilla's bona fides as a software company would make a good product. Wrong.
It just didn't work. First, it had trouble installing. Using the 64-bit installer, it complained that I needed a 64-bit system to run it, which of course I have. Tech support suggested a few things, but it took a later version number to work. Once installed, it repeatedly disconnected from the network, then the app crashed. It didn't affect the overall system, but system reboot was always needed to get the app to run again.
I requested a refund, which Mozilla did promptly and hassle free. While frustrating, the overall experience dealing with Mozilla was excellent. The only problem was the VPN which didn't work, which truly surprised me.
Is that likely or not to be an issue with a major new concept like this?
Will they make and release a solid product, or aggravate faithful users with a bug farm?
Aside (Score:1)
April fools (Score:2)
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It was announced on "28 Mar", so three days before April. https://thunderbird.topicbox.c... [topicbox.com]
No thanks (Score:2)
How about fixing bugs and implementing things the users are really asking for [mozilla.org]?
VERY good timing (Score:1)
Oh, shit! (Score:3)
After they upgraded the UI, I started to install Thunderbird more and more to user in my organization (public administration): people have MS Office, but there are multiple issues with Outlook . The new interface looks modern, somewhat similar with Outlook so people accept the change.
Now if Thunderbird will start nagging people about subscribing to Pro, like adware, this might be the end of the road. Fingers crossed it doesn't happen.